School Information

Our school dates back to 1535, when the rector of St Peter and St Paul directed one of his curates to "instruct boys of the parish". The Church of England went on to establish four more schools in Kettering over the years, including the parochial school which was opened in 1819 in the Horsemarket.

This old town school survived until 1965 when a purpose-built Secondary Modern institution was opened in Headlands as a much needed replacement. The late Robert Stopford, who was Bishop of Peterborough at the time, agreed to the new School being named after him and thereby endorsed the continuity of Church-inspired education in Kettering and throughout the diocese. Bishop Stopford School quickly established itself, soon introduced a Sixth Form and eventually admitted its first full Comprehensive intake in 1976. It has been oversubscribed almost ever since. The School has also benefited from an extensive programme of new buildings and refurbishment over the years to meet the demands of modern-day students and a changing curriculum.

The number-on-roll has more than doubled since 1965 to approximately 1450 students, with a Sixth Form of over 350. Exam results tend to be well above county and national averages. The School which converted to Academy Status in August 2011, today, is a large, forward-thinking and high-achieving organisation with a unique heritage and distinctive identity. But our Common Purpose remains as ever – to provide high quality education with a strong Christian ethos.

The school calendar, homework timetables, entitlement statement, guide to the Learning Gateway and guide to the VLE can be found below. These documents are all PDF documents which require you to have a suitable PDF reader application. If you require paper copies of any of the information contained within this website, please contact the Office, who can arrange this for you.You can download the official Adobe Acrobat Reader software through this link.